JULY 18
ANSON MACDONALD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, SERENITY VALLEY
Chris woke up, sat up, and briefly wondered where the hell he was. That part of his confusion resolved itself rather quickly as he realised he had to be in a hospital ward. There was a theme to real hospitals, no matter where one went, and this was following all the rules. Given the last thing he remembered was lying on the deck with an incredibly painful hole in his chest, with his blood deciding to seek residence elsewhere, he had to admit this was better than anywhere else he could have ended up.
As he sat there, several other details began to filter in. His body didn’t hurt at all, but it didn’t feel like he’d been in this bed for very long. But while there was no pain, his body did feel… odd. Lighter than it should be, and unbalanced. And as that detail settled in, he realised his hair, usually cut short, was not only hanging in front of his face, but it was the wrong color. Instead of the normal brown, it was a shiny green-black.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he sighed in a mix of annoyance and amusement. He’d wondered, back when he first barricaded the door, if going up against the Professor had a price, and now he knew. Biomod. One of Handwaviums most legendary abilities. To take a living being, even one on the edge of death, and recreate it. Sometimes almost completely as it was before. Sometimes something almost completely new. But always different somehow, and yet still connected to what came before.
Change. Growth. Nostalgia. Almost the perfect summary of Fenspace.
Opening his eyes, he smiled at the odd mood his own change had left him in, then reached up brush the hair out of his face. Pausing, he studied his hand. Before, it was large, weathered, with old scars from a hundred minor cuts and scrapes, and fingernails that still ended up chewed on despite his best efforts to kill the habit. Now it was tiny and unscarred, with soft, flawless green skin, delicate fingers and well-maintained fingernails.
“Well, that explains a few things,” he commented to himself, his voice much higher and softer than it had been. Clearly female. “So, green skin. Mirialan or Orion?” Looking down, she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Orion,” she concluded, head dropping back down onto the pillow. “Great. Guess I still had Miyu on the mind when the mod took hold,” she muttered, shivering slightly at the memory. “I can already tell that’s gonna be annoying.”
Frowning thoughtfully, she sat back up and looked around the room. Spotting her phone on the bedside table, she climbed over and retrieved it, fumbling slightly with her new hands and scrambling to catch it before it fell. “Right, Friday,” she said after checking the time and date. Brushing her hair back out of her face, she sighed and slid off the bed, stumbling slightly as the drop to the floor was longer than expected. “Dammit, Kit must be freaking out,” she grumbled as she dialed.
The phone managed about a quarter of a ring before it cut off and the phones projector powered up, Kitbashs avatar appearing on top of it. Pausing, she took in the sight in front of her. Cautious, she leaned in for a closer look. “...Dad?” she said at last.
Chris gave her an amused smile back, trying not to think about how her face didn’t feel like it was moving quite right. “Hiya Artie.”
“Don’t call me that,” she grumbled instinctively, than blinked. “It really is you…” Regaining her bearings, she looked Chris over and smirked. “Should I start calling you mum?” she teased.
“Please don’t,” Chris replied with a wince. “I just woke up, I’m really not ready to try and process that just yet,” she said, putting the phone back down on the bedside table. “Last thing I remember was…” she winced, pressing her palm against her forehead, “getting run through by Glear. So, clearly it was bad enough I got a dose of Handwavium. What about Teeseven?”
“He’s okay,” Kitbash said quickly. “He’s here on the Void Eagle. We haven’t been able to fix his leg yet, so Julian’s worked out a crutch for him.” She shrugged slightly, rubbing at the back of her neck. “If you didn’t wake up today, I was going to ask Nene to take a look at him.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Chris nodded. “Right. Thank you. At least there’s some good news… even if Romanova’s gonna yell at me for being an idiot over this whole mess.” She snorted. “I earned it, I’ll savor it. The Friez are both alright then?” she asked, looking back over at her daughter.
Nodding, the AI pulled a chair out of nowhere and sat down. “Safe and sound. Security got here not long after you…” she paused, looking ill, then gestured at Chris. “Y’know. I managed to stall with the coilguns long enough for them to grab Miyu. Then, well then you apparently started, well, dying.” Her expression shifted rapidly, showing her many emotions on the matter, as Chris’ green skin paled noticeably at that piece of information. “Before the paramedics could do anything,” Kitbash continued, voice wavering, “the Professor just… reacted. Before anyone could stop him, he was right next to you, working out your injuries, and…” her voice trailed off and she looked away, shivering.
Stepping across the room, Chris held out her hand, fingers brushing through the tiny holograms hands. “It’s okay kid,” she said gently. Kitbash looked back at her, still clearly upset. “He’s the one that kicked off the biomod?” Her daughter nodded, and the Orion smiled, shrugging slightly. “Hmm. Even as unstable as he is, his heart’s more or less in the right place.” Grinning, she folded her arms under her breasts, then blinked and shifted, resorting to placing her hands on her hips instead, even if that felt almost as odd. “Still kinda hate his minion right now though,” she noted with a giggle, then blinked again at that particular reaction.
It had the desired effect though, as Kitbash broke down giggling as well, the AI nearly falling off her chair, thanks to the subconscious parts of her avatar code that insisted on obeying things like gravity. Chris gave her a moment, looking around the room and considering how large everything seemed. Either this hospital had been buying some oversized furniture (Which was possible, she remembered reading about a handwaved factory that had a few problems with scale) or she was a lot smaller than she had been.
Suppressing a sigh, she made herself smile again as Kitbash regained her composure. Worry later. For now, she had to tend to her daughter.
ANSON MACDONALD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, SERENITY VALLEY
Chris woke up, sat up, and briefly wondered where the hell he was. That part of his confusion resolved itself rather quickly as he realised he had to be in a hospital ward. There was a theme to real hospitals, no matter where one went, and this was following all the rules. Given the last thing he remembered was lying on the deck with an incredibly painful hole in his chest, with his blood deciding to seek residence elsewhere, he had to admit this was better than anywhere else he could have ended up.
As he sat there, several other details began to filter in. His body didn’t hurt at all, but it didn’t feel like he’d been in this bed for very long. But while there was no pain, his body did feel… odd. Lighter than it should be, and unbalanced. And as that detail settled in, he realised his hair, usually cut short, was not only hanging in front of his face, but it was the wrong color. Instead of the normal brown, it was a shiny green-black.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he sighed in a mix of annoyance and amusement. He’d wondered, back when he first barricaded the door, if going up against the Professor had a price, and now he knew. Biomod. One of Handwaviums most legendary abilities. To take a living being, even one on the edge of death, and recreate it. Sometimes almost completely as it was before. Sometimes something almost completely new. But always different somehow, and yet still connected to what came before.
Change. Growth. Nostalgia. Almost the perfect summary of Fenspace.
Opening his eyes, he smiled at the odd mood his own change had left him in, then reached up brush the hair out of his face. Pausing, he studied his hand. Before, it was large, weathered, with old scars from a hundred minor cuts and scrapes, and fingernails that still ended up chewed on despite his best efforts to kill the habit. Now it was tiny and unscarred, with soft, flawless green skin, delicate fingers and well-maintained fingernails.
“Well, that explains a few things,” he commented to himself, his voice much higher and softer than it had been. Clearly female. “So, green skin. Mirialan or Orion?” Looking down, she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Orion,” she concluded, head dropping back down onto the pillow. “Great. Guess I still had Miyu on the mind when the mod took hold,” she muttered, shivering slightly at the memory. “I can already tell that’s gonna be annoying.”
Frowning thoughtfully, she sat back up and looked around the room. Spotting her phone on the bedside table, she climbed over and retrieved it, fumbling slightly with her new hands and scrambling to catch it before it fell. “Right, Friday,” she said after checking the time and date. Brushing her hair back out of her face, she sighed and slid off the bed, stumbling slightly as the drop to the floor was longer than expected. “Dammit, Kit must be freaking out,” she grumbled as she dialed.
The phone managed about a quarter of a ring before it cut off and the phones projector powered up, Kitbashs avatar appearing on top of it. Pausing, she took in the sight in front of her. Cautious, she leaned in for a closer look. “...Dad?” she said at last.
Chris gave her an amused smile back, trying not to think about how her face didn’t feel like it was moving quite right. “Hiya Artie.”
“Don’t call me that,” she grumbled instinctively, than blinked. “It really is you…” Regaining her bearings, she looked Chris over and smirked. “Should I start calling you mum?” she teased.
“Please don’t,” Chris replied with a wince. “I just woke up, I’m really not ready to try and process that just yet,” she said, putting the phone back down on the bedside table. “Last thing I remember was…” she winced, pressing her palm against her forehead, “getting run through by Glear. So, clearly it was bad enough I got a dose of Handwavium. What about Teeseven?”
“He’s okay,” Kitbash said quickly. “He’s here on the Void Eagle. We haven’t been able to fix his leg yet, so Julian’s worked out a crutch for him.” She shrugged slightly, rubbing at the back of her neck. “If you didn’t wake up today, I was going to ask Nene to take a look at him.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Chris nodded. “Right. Thank you. At least there’s some good news… even if Romanova’s gonna yell at me for being an idiot over this whole mess.” She snorted. “I earned it, I’ll savor it. The Friez are both alright then?” she asked, looking back over at her daughter.
Nodding, the AI pulled a chair out of nowhere and sat down. “Safe and sound. Security got here not long after you…” she paused, looking ill, then gestured at Chris. “Y’know. I managed to stall with the coilguns long enough for them to grab Miyu. Then, well then you apparently started, well, dying.” Her expression shifted rapidly, showing her many emotions on the matter, as Chris’ green skin paled noticeably at that piece of information. “Before the paramedics could do anything,” Kitbash continued, voice wavering, “the Professor just… reacted. Before anyone could stop him, he was right next to you, working out your injuries, and…” her voice trailed off and she looked away, shivering.
Stepping across the room, Chris held out her hand, fingers brushing through the tiny holograms hands. “It’s okay kid,” she said gently. Kitbash looked back at her, still clearly upset. “He’s the one that kicked off the biomod?” Her daughter nodded, and the Orion smiled, shrugging slightly. “Hmm. Even as unstable as he is, his heart’s more or less in the right place.” Grinning, she folded her arms under her breasts, then blinked and shifted, resorting to placing her hands on her hips instead, even if that felt almost as odd. “Still kinda hate his minion right now though,” she noted with a giggle, then blinked again at that particular reaction.
It had the desired effect though, as Kitbash broke down giggling as well, the AI nearly falling off her chair, thanks to the subconscious parts of her avatar code that insisted on obeying things like gravity. Chris gave her a moment, looking around the room and considering how large everything seemed. Either this hospital had been buying some oversized furniture (Which was possible, she remembered reading about a handwaved factory that had a few problems with scale) or she was a lot smaller than she had been.
Suppressing a sigh, she made herself smile again as Kitbash regained her composure. Worry later. For now, she had to tend to her daughter.